>>> US Earning Calendar

Earnings Calendar

* Today after the close look for the following companies to report:
AF, LVS, UMPQ, IEX, STLD, ALB, ALGT, CLB, CTXS, FTNT, IBKC, LRCX, MKSI, MLNX, NOW, SLG, TER, TSCO, VAR, GHL, SHOR, SWFT, AVB, GGP, AMP, AZPN, CBT, EXTR, FB, KRC, VRTX, BRKL, CACI, CAVM, CGI, CMO, CRUS, CSII, DRE, FLEX, ISIL, KEX, MEOH, MUR, PRXL, QGEN, SGI, TGI, CMPR, ATK, CPT, ESIO, WSTC, HOLX, PTC, QCOM, DHT, TTEK, JEC

* Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report:
BAX, BX, BEAV, HOG, ABT, CHKP, DOW, EMC, NOC, NOK, NYCB, SWK, TMO, WRLD, ALV, ALXN, BC, BMS, CAM, CCMP, CELG, CMS, CSH, DGX, HUB.B, JBLU, LSTR, MJN, OSTK, OXY, PENN, PHM, POT, RCI, RCL, RTN, RYL, SILC, TDY, WCC, ZMH, CL, CMCO, F, NDAQ, SXC, TCB, COH, SHW, TKR, VRTS, AIT, ALLY, CRR, HSY, MTH, PSX, PSXP, RGLD, UBSI, VLY, WILN, APD, CAH, COP, DHX, DST, EPD, GLOP, HAR, HGG, IVZ, KEM, KMT, LANC, LLL, LRN, MD, MMYT, RDS.A, TWC, XEL, HAE, ITG, BABA, HZO, RGS, VLO, KELYA, CLFD, HP, VIAB, PTRY

>>> Greece's sale of 14 regional airports to Fraport consortium to be cancelled

Greece's sale of 14 regional airports to Fraport consortium to be cancelled

The sale of Greece’s 14 regional airports will be cancelled, a Greek-language report in Euro2day said. It cited George Stathakis, the new minister of Economy and Infrastructure.

The Fraport-Slentel consortium was declared the preferred bidder in November 2014, as earlier reported. The consortium's offer consisted of an upfront payment of EUR 1.234bn and an annual payment of EUR 22.9m for the life of the concession, the earlier report said.

euro2day

(re/code.net) Apple Paid Former Burberry Boss $73 Million to Become Its Retail C

Apple Paid Former Burberry Boss $73 Million to Become Its Retail Chief

Former Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts collected some lovely welcoming gifts in her new role overseeing Apple’s retail operations — a compensation package valued at $73.4 million, according to regulatory filings.

Ahrendts, 54, received the most lucrative pay package of any Apple executive last year, based on a filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Her compensation dwarfed that of all the other named executives at Apple and outpaced the next highest-paid executive, media boss Eddy Cue, by $48.9 million. Ahrendts’ deal highlights the importance of Apple’s lucrative retail operations.

Apple also notes that Ahrendts was among the highest-paid executives in the U.K. When she decided to leave her job at the luxury retailer, she left unvested stock awards worth approximately $37 million (as well as cash and perquisites that exceeded $5 million a year).

The Cupertino technology giant said its 2014 compensation package was designed to make Ahrendts whole financially — and successfully recruit an executive who, during her tenure at Burberry, led the company through a turnaround in which its market capitalization more than doubled.

Since joining the company in May, Ahrendts has collected some $70 million in stock grants from Apple — $37 million to compensate her for the value of the Burberry stock that she walked away from in accepting the Apple job, plus a new-hire stock allocation valued at $33 million — 40 percent of which is performance based, with the rest vesting over three years.

She also pocketed a $500,000 cash bonus and relocation expenses totaling $457,615.

Apple said it departed from its usual practice and extended Ahrendts a severance agreement that, upon termination, would pay a lump sum equivalent to the base salary she would have collected for the remainder of the three-year period.

The retail chief receives an annual salary of $1 million, plus bonuses, similar to that of other senior executives.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, meanwhile, saw his total compensation rise to $9.2 million, more than double the $4.2 million value of the pay, bonuses and stock he received 2013.

Lieutenants Cue and Jeff Williams, head of operations, both received total compensation worth more than $24.4 million.

Luca Maestri, who was named chief financial officer last year, collected a compensation package valued at $14 million that included an $11.3 million stock award.

>>> WTI Crude Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2009 After FOMC

WTI Crude Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2009 After FOMC

Front-month WTI crude tumbles to least since April 2009, Brent drops to intraday low after Fed maintains pledge to be “ patient” on raising interest rates.
  • FOMC also says timing of rate moves to depend on data
  • Front-month WTI -$1.94 to $44.29/bbl at 223pm on Nymex, poised for lowest settlement since March 2009; intraday low $44.08
  • Front-month Brent -$1.16 to $48.44/bbl on ICE; low $48.29

>>> Fed releases FOMC statement

Fed releases FOMC statement

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Labor market conditions have improved further, with strong job gains and a lower unemployment rate. On balance, a range of labor market indicators suggests that underutilization of labor resources continues to diminish. Household spending is rising moderately; recent declines in energy prices have boosted household purchasing power. Business fixed investment is advancing, while the recovery in the housing sector remains slow. Inflation has declined further below the Committee's longer-run objective, largely reflecting declines in energy prices. Market-based measures of inflation compensation have declined substantially in recent months; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects that, with appropriate policy accommodation, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace, with labor market indicators continuing to move toward levels the Committee judges consistent with its dual mandate. The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced. Inflation is anticipated to decline further in the near term, but the Committee expects inflation to rise gradually toward 2 percent over the medium term as the labor market improves further and the transitory effects of lower energy prices and other factors dissipate. The Committee continues to monitor inflation developments closely.

To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee today reaffirmed its view that the current 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the federal funds rate remains appropriate. In determining how long to maintain this target range, the Committee will assess progress--both realized and expected--toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments. Based on its current assessment, the Committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy. However, if incoming information indicates faster progress toward the Committee's employment and inflation objectives than the Committee now expects, then increases in the target range for the federal funds rate are likely to occur sooner than currently anticipated. Conversely, if progress proves slower than expected, then increases in the target range are likely to occur later than currently anticipated.

The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. This policy, by keeping the Committee's holdings of longer-term securities at sizable levels, should help maintain accommodative financial conditions.

When the Committee decides to begin to remove policy accommodation, it will take a balanced approach consistent with its longer-run goals of maximum employment and inflation of 2 percent. The Committee currently anticipates that, even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping the target federal funds rate below levels the Committee views as normal in the longer run.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Janet L. Yellen, Chair; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Lael Brainard; Charles L. Evans; Stanley Fischer; Jeffrey M. Lacker; Dennis P. Lockhart; Jerome H. Powell; Daniel K. Tarullo; and John C. Williams.